lis@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Elisabeth Riba) (06/28/90)
DICK TRACY--A Real Dud
A film review by Elisabeth Riba
Copyright 1990 Elisabeth Riba
DICK TRACY has had more hype than any other film this summer.
Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to it. When out of a stellar cast,
Madonna has the strongest character, you know there's something wrong.
I'd say the plot suffers from comic-book simplicity, but that
insults comic books. Big Boy Caprice has organized all the mobsters
under his leadership. This coalition faces trouble from Dick Tracy on
the side of the law, and the mysterious Blank from the criminal front.
That's the whole plot.
Dick Tracy's toughest decision is choosing between Tess Trueheart
and Breathless Mahoney (Madonna). He waffles through the entire movie
and only chooses by default. The other main subplot features the
now-obligatory smart-aleck kid. Tracy continually muddles into hopeless
situations which the Kid (that's his name, honest!) gets him out of.
Short Round in TEMPLE OF DOOM did it far better.
DICK TRACY easily lends itself to comparison with BATMAN. Yes,
both come from comics, but the parallels go much farther. Danny Elfman
scored both, and he used similar music. Some scenes directly
correspond. When he leaps through the skylight, jacket flapping, you
cannot think of anything else.
One possible reason DICK TRACY felt so much weaker than Batman is
the difference in their original medium. Comic books can offer much more
characterization than daily strips. That should give the cast much more
room to develop. Instead, it constrains them.
Warren Beatty both directed and starred. Perhaps he should have
left one of the jobs to someone else. I could not care about Tracy.
Watching his woman problems, I thought Beatty was playing himself. For
all the hype of the Madonna/Warren Beatty romance, it never showed on
screen. He had no chemistry with either woman. Tracy wasn't even a
good cop. Anyone who needs a child to pull his fat out of the fire more
than once obviously has problems. He also admitted using unethical
tactics in his investigations.
While Beatty stumbled along, Madonna oozed sensuality. When she
walked on in a transparent top, I couldn't believe I was watching
Disney. She had the best lines, as well. Her songs were fun, although
I would have liked to hear them straight through. But despite the
strong character, Madonna also just played herself.
Tess Trueheart barely competes. She whined her way through the
entire movie. What brains she had, she loses midway through the film.
Although she accepted his desire to work the streets and knew he loved
her, she walks out on him with no reason. Of course, with a name like
Trueheart, you know she'll return.
What about the other big name stars? I see no sense in hiring
great actors and then covering them in makeup until they're
unrecognizable. Al Pacino does the best Mel Brooks imitation I have
ever heard. In fact, with all that makeup, I thought Brooks did play
the role. Dustin Hoffman's "Mumbles" does just that. Some considered
it self-parody--I just found it annoying. Mandy Patinkin held a lot of
promise. His duet with Madonna left me wanting more. But 88 Keys is a
far cry from Inigo Montoya.
Yes, the cinematography was nice. I liked the color scheme and
comic bookishness. Beatty did a good job of recreating the forties feel
especially in the montages during the music. But the effects were
sloppy and seriously detracted. I could actually see the cut between
Tess's house and the model. And again, I found fault with the blue
screen.
A few other notes of interest. Stephen Sondheim wrote all
Madonna's music. When will we get another musical from him? The Batman
tradition continues. Disney will release three albums from the film:
Madonna's, featuring both Sondheim's songs and her own, Danny Elfman's
score, and the incidental music. In the continuing Star Trek actor
watch, keep an eye peeled for Colm Meaney (Lt. O'Brien) as a police
officer.
As an added treat, the movie opens with a new Roger Rabbit cartoon.
I hope other studios follow Disney's lead. Unfortunately,
"Rollercoaster Rabbit" shared the same plot as every other Maroon short.
Roger watches over Baby Herman, this time at an amusement park, and gets
killed many times over protecting him. Although some scenes
(particularly with the bull) are funny, I don't find constant injury
amusing. Surely Disney can do better than this.
I went to DICK TRACY looking for a good time. I didn't find one.
Wait to see it on video.
--
Lady Lis
~~~~~~~~
a.k.a. Elisabeth Anne Riba
lis@cs.brandeis.eduicsu6000@caesar.cs.montana.edu (Jaye Mathisen) (06/28/90)
DICK TRACY
[Probable Spoilers]
Reviewer: Jaye Mathisen
Copyright 1990 Jaye Mathisen
Summary:
Comic book hero comes to life on the big screen. Classy
filming, and good performances by the whole cast make this one a winner.
Who's Dick Tracy? I don't know. About the only thing I know about
Dick is he has a radio wristwatch, and doesn't he have a secret decoder
ring? Or is that Captain Crunch?
Anyway, I didn't have a lot of preconceived notions about Dick
Tracy when I went to see it. I'd seen the previews, and they looked OK,
but there wasn't the same level of anticipation as for BATMAN. Maybe
Dick's a character for another generation. He's certainly not a big
part of mine.
I was definitely impressed with the show. Warren Beatty plays a
great Dick Tracy, right down to the yellow overcoat and hat. Madonna
turned in what has got to be one of the best performances of her film
career. The woman radiated sex. I was certainly surprised to see her
in the ending. My guess as to the real identity of No-Face was way out
in left field. Justifiable, but not on the mark. Al Pacino was superb
as the gangster Big Boy Caprice. His constant little "quotes" by famous
people were a nice touch.
All of the smaller parts were done well too. 88 Keys (Mandy
Patinkin), Flattop, Mumbles (Dustin Hoffman), and the rest of the
disfigured criminal elements were right on the mark. My impression was
that everybody was having a lot of fun with the part, and played them to
the hilt. Tess Trueheart (Glenn Headly) turned in a good performance as
Tracy's girlfriend, and the Kid provided a light touch of humor.
Rating:
Classy stuff. The comic book-like use of color, the make-up,
the sets were all very well done. Given my lack of familiarity
with the history of Dick Tracy, it was still easy to follow the
movie, except for trying to remember all the gangster names.
But if you can picture the face, you can probably remember the
name. Great acting, an okay plot, good makeup, and nice special
effects earn this one a 4 stars (****,excellent) out of 4.
Enjoyability
You don't have to be familiar with Dick Tracy to see this film.
It's good, very good. Go see it. Take the kids. Take your
wife. Take your grandmother. Take your kids' friends and their
parents. 4 stars out of 4.